"Sergeant," the Colonel said rather brusquely, "you came in last night with 'M' troop, did you not?"
"Yes, sir."
"Had you ever met Lieutenant Gaskins before?"
"Once; he pulled me out of a bad scrape with a bunch of Indians out on the trail a few months ago."
"The same affair I spoke to you about," commented McDonald quietly. "The attack on the stage."
The Colonel nodded, without removing his eyes from the Sergeant's face.
"Yes, I know about that," he said. "And that was the only occasion of your meeting?"
"Yes, sir."
"Well, Sergeant Hamlin, I purpose being perfectly frank with you. There are two or three matters not easily explained about this affair. I am satisfied of your innocence; that you were not directly concerned in the shooting of Lieutenant Gaskins. Men of your troop state that you were in barracks when the shots were fired, and the wound was not made by a service revolver, but by a much smaller weapon. Yet there are circumstances which puzzle us, but which, no doubt, you can explain. Two shots had been fired from your revolver," and he pushed the weapon across the table.
"I rode ahead of the troop in march yesterday," Hamlin explained, "and fired twice at a jack-rabbit. I must have neglected to replace the cartridges. Private Stone was with me."